When you spend money or use your time, you make trade offs. Hopefully the trade offs you make reflect your priorities

Whenever you spend money, there are opportunity costs. You are using money that you could have saved or spent on something else.

The same goes with time. When you spend time on one thing, there are many other things you could have done.

When you spend money or use your time, you are making trade offs. You may not be conscious of this, but you’re doing this every day of your life.

It is easy to act based on inertia, or get caught up with the moment and what is in front of you and easy right now. Because we are human, this will happen, and it’s important not to beat ourselves up.

But when you step back, it’s important to be mindful about how we spend money and how we use our time. Because if we’re not, we can find that the decisions we make about time and money don’t reflect our values.

If we’re not mindful, we can spend our money and time on things that aren’t important to leading a life we truly find meaningful.

When you spend a dollar, you might get something in exchange. But you will not get that dollar back. When you spend your time, you will never get that time back.

Decisions might seem miniscule at the time. But when they build up, and compound over time, we find that these decisions are reflected in the outcomes we achieve in life.

With any luck, the decisions you’ve made reflect your priorities and the things you truly value.

Did you enjoy this article? Sign up!

Sign up to the NZ Wealth & Risk mailing list and you'll receive a copy of Sonnie's book, WEALTH: Simple Tips for Savvy Kiwis (PDF). You'll also receive a series of emails explaining how to Build Your Own Financial Plan.

Sonnie Bailey

Sonnie is an Authorised Financial Adviser (AFA) and former lawyer with experience in the financial services and trustee industries. Sonnie operates Fairhaven Wealth (www.fairhavenwealth.co.nz).

NZ Wealth & Risk doesn’t advertise products or services provided by any third party, and doesn’t generate any affiliate income. It’s made possible by Sonnie’s business, Fairhaven Wealth. Check out the website if you want to know more. Or contact Sonnie: sonnie@fairhavenwealth.co.nz or 021 0269 2213.

(c) 2018 Sonnie Bailey. Sonnie is an Authorised Financial Adviser - disclosure statements are available on request. All information on this site is general in nature and no substitute for personalised financial advice.